1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to scrub sponges, and particularly, relates to scrub brush-sponges associated with a variety of medical procedures and adaptable for treating medical instruments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous brush structures are known in the art. Some of these structures are functionally effective as well as convenient in use or ergonomic. While a minor amount of brush modification continues, surprisingly, scrub brushes used by medical professionals have not been substantially modified for quite some time. Structurally, a typical scrub brush has a base coupled to a rectangular sponge, which is saturated with antiseptic, germicide and/or soapy fluid and has a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape.
In the medical field, many scrub brush-sponges have a great variety of adaptations. Besides traditional functions, such as cleaning the hands of the professional, removing blood and treating wounds, the brushes also may be used for cleaning a variety of medical instruments, particularly those instruments that need to be sterilized or, at least, cleaned repeatedly during a surgical procedure.
While such rectangular sponges may effectively clean flat surfaces, they may be less effective while treating annular surfaces, which are rather typical for a great variety of medical instruments. Particularly, many of the medical instruments, which are used for invasive procedures such as colonoscopy or other diagnostic procedures, to name a few, have substantially circular bodies. Customarily, surgical medical instruments undergo thorough sterilization before the beginning of the medical procedure. However, as mentioned above, many instruments can be reused during the same medical procedure and, thus, have to be repeatedly cleaned before each subsequent use.
Since the base of the typical brush may not be sufficiently flexible, the user has to apply excessive bending forces to flex the base so that the sponge would surround the annular body of the medical instrument. Otherwise, without flexing the base, a typical rectangular sponge may clean only a segment of the entire annular body, which leads to a time-ineffective cleaning process in a situation often requiring the instantaneous availability of any given instrument.
Assuming that the user does not experience any difficulty in flexing the scrub brush-sponge for cleaning medical instruments, the scrub still may remain inefficient, because the surface of the sponge is typically smooth. The smoothness, at least partially, depends on the number of pores per inch (PPI). The higher the PPI the smoother the surface. And while a typical smooth surface is perhaps pleasant for cleaning the user's hands, it may be ineffective for cleaning the metallic or other surfaces of medical instruments.
A need, therefore, exists for a scrub brush-sponge configured with an ergonomic structure that enables the user to clean medical instruments in a time-effective manner
Still a further need exists for a scrub brush-sponge having a structure that can be sufficiently flexible to enable the user to effectively clean medical instruments in a relatively effortless maimer.
Another need exists for a scrub brush-sponge configured with a sponge that is characterized by as relatively low PPI for effectively scrubbing the surface of numerous medical instruments.